Intruder
by meggh11
Summary: Beckett is assigned to a tough investigation involving the brutal torture and murder of a child. She carefully brings Castle along for the ride, but what happens when the case begins to hit too close subjecting Castle and Beckett to the murder s ' game.
1. Chapter 1

That day started like any other day. Kate's alarm went off the same time it did every morning. She rose from her bed just as tired as she was yesterday. She got a shower, got dressed; did her normal routine. She grabbed her things and locked the door on her way out. Even the traffic was the same. As she walked into the front door of the precinct, the same door she has used many times before, she thought about who was out there, right now, taking their last breath. Something that she rarely thought about because of the depressing nature it brought with it. She walked up the stairs, got to the elevator, and pressed the same floor she pressed everyday. When she arrived to her desk she saw the same things that were there yesterday: paperwork, pens, little trinkets from here and there. Bringing personality to her job was something she cherished, but didn't mention.

The faint sound of Esposito's voice was making its way down the hallway and around the corner. Although out of sight, Kate knew Ryan was with him. Where else would he be?

"and that's why you _never_ wear crocs" Esposito said while looking seriously at Ryan who had a rather confused look on his face.

Kate loved that. Even with the murder and crime they faced every day, this room was always light and airy at the start. These people had become her family.

"Anyone call Castle?" Kate said.

"Nope, it's been pretty slow and he mentioned something that he had to do yesterday…" Ryan said

"…so we waited for you." Esposito finished.

Kate didn't mind Castle's absence. She liked having these early morning moments to herself. As much as she loved having Castle as a partner, she liked it being just the three of them, like old times, just for a moment.

"Look alive!" Ryan said as he threw an apple towards Esposito.  
The duo sat at their desks, respectively, and chatted away before the day was to begin. It was like their "homeroom" before the long and tedious school day was to behind. Behind her, the sun was making its presence known. She could feel it on her back as she sorted through everything at her desk. As the precinct lit up with the morning, Kate saw the familiar faces straggle in. It would be a couple hours before everyone became truly awake. Everyone stays late to finish everything off before morning, the night owls of the force. Kate had left the last bit of paperwork to do this morning. The fact that her attention span decreased about half of its usual capacity last night made her quit to push everything off until today.

When she was almost finished she felt her stomach remind her of the last time she consumed anything relating to food. She almost forgot that Castle wasn't here this morning. He was usually talking with the boys when he first walks in anyway. Today was one of the rare occasions that she needed to make coffee herself and get her own breakfast.

Then the phone rang.

"Yea, okay. Do you have an address? Ma'am? Hel – " and then Ryan went silent.

Kate almost didn't notice until Esposito interrupted her thought with "Bro?"

Ryan's expression was strange and his face turned unusually white. "We have a murder."


	2. Chapter 2

Kate arrived at the crime scene like she always did. Parked her car in the usual form, with her lights blinking, but no sirens. This time she didn't call Castle, yet. She had gotten a brief description of the details of this death. Kate wanted to map out everything considering the delicacy of the subject matter. She got out of her car and spotted Lanie in the distance. The sun had fully risen and was now lighting up the entire city. Although the crime scene was spacious, everyone seemed cramped into this corner of the city. Everyone doing individual jobs to help achieve the one goal that brought her here: to solve a murder. Her heels broke the eerie silence as they clicked underneath, bringing her to the small lump under the medical tarp.

"Lanie – " Kate hesitated as she towered over the body.

"White male. Wounds to the chest, head, abdomen – " Lanie began, focused on the clipboard in her hand.

"Lanie – "

"Beckett!" Esposito shouted. To let her know they had arrived. Kate waved to signal that she heard and turned back.

"I wont be able to tell which was fatal until I get the body back to the lab."

"Lanie, I need details, age, race – "

Lanie paused and wrote something on her clipboard.

"Lanie, I need –"  
"He's about eight years old, Kate."

Back at the 12th, the same place she was at only three hours ago, things were now different. It had risen. Everyone was either silent or out on a case. Gates had arrived and was in her office, but Kate didn't approach her. Instead she took her phone, went into the break room, and dialed Castle's number.

"Beckett, missed me so soon. I told the boys that – "

"Castle -"

"I know its tough, but breakfast is not that – "

"Castle, I need you to focus," Kate responded in a more serious tone.  
"Okay"

"We have a murder. But it's different. It's a kid. And - he's eight."

Castle was silent on the other end.

"If you are going to be a part of this one, you need to know that, for PR reasons, we need to tread lightly."

"Okay, got it. I'll see you in twenty."

Kate had dealt with children's deaths before, but from what she saw on the clipboard from Lanie, and the amount of blood at the scene, this was going to be different – and difficult. Something terrible happened to this child and everyone knew it. It was becoming the silent elephant in the room. Everyone tries to act professional, act as if it was any other case, but in all reality, it's the furthest from it.

When Castle arrived Kate took the coffee he brought, like had done every other day, and placed it on her desk. Today was different and coffee would have to wait. They both went down to the morgue. Kate filled Castle in with the few details that she had already. Castle knew how to turn off the sarcasm and wit. He took the information like the adult he truly was.

As the doors opened, Kate fell silent again. She saw Lanie through the windows of the morgue as she opened the door.

"Hey" Kate quietly said.

"Hey,"

"How'd he die?"

"That's a good question. He has cuts on his legs, contusions all over his body. Wound wise, he was struck, hard, on his head. His fingerprints were burned. Someone attempted to gut his body – "  
Castle began to feel anxious. Who could do something like that to anyone, let alone a helpless child? This kid was small. And on the adult size table, he looked even smaller. The vulnerability of a child was being emphasized.

"Okay" Kate said with a question in her voice.

"However, he died from blood loss…"

"You mean – "

"He was alive for everything."


	3. Chapter 3

Kate didn't mind the silence that surrounded her on the way back to her desk. As she approached her colleagues, she knew they already had the full run down. She couldn't let her uncertainty show through. Regardless of how confident she felt she had a team to run. Without saying a word, she slowly sat down in her chair. Castle followed behind, but remained standing.

"We need to find who did this" Castle said.

Kate lifted her head to meet his eyes. He knew that look well and understood it meant that she was trying. It wasn't a cold look, but more of a concerned and worried one. It only lasted a second because she then turned to look at the rest of her team. She needed to direct them with confidence. She had to be the leader. Emotions could not get in the way of this one.

"We have nothing to go on right now. He's a John Doe until further notice. Nothing to the press, nothing to anyone – "

"Beckett, can I talk to you" Gates interrupted.

Kate got up from her chair, passed the boys, and went into the new captain's office. Montgomery would have given her the same speech she was about to receive. However, as much as she respected Gates, she knew she had more support from Montgomery. He trusted her gut more than Gates did.

"You need to handle this with care. I have faith in you, but the moment when you or any of your team feels like it's too much, you need to take authority and tell them its time to go." Gates said with a demanding, yet caring tone.

"Okay, sir"

"Cases with kids are always the hardest, but given the circumstances, I want this one solved, and soon. I'll handle the press, just get this thing wrapped up and find someone to blame."

"Yes, sir"

Kate exited the office. Without them noticing, Kate looked at her team. They were all capable of solving this on their own, but she still felt like the parental role. Not as a parent to discipline, but a parent to guide.

"Okay, Ryan, Esposito, have you found any leads?" Kate commanded.

"Not yet. Lanie is trying to find any kind of print or hair or something," Esposito answered.

"Okay, well we need to find _something_. There was nothing at the scene. Whoever did this isn't just a crazed person on the street. He is trained."  
"What do you mean nothing at the scene" Castle chimed in, knowing the answer.

"No prints, no tire tracks. It's like the kid just appeared there."

Kate's phone rang. It was Lanie, hopefully with something that she could at least pretend to go on, just for the time being.

"Okay," Kate answered with a disappointed yet confused look on her face. "She said that there's nothing on the body. Not a print. Whoever did this didn't mess around -"

Kate saw Castle give one of those looks and knew what was coming next.

"Well, lets just look at it. He's a kid, and he was tortured, but not in a messy way. The killer made sure we had nothing to go on. He didn't want to be caught, but wanted to send a message. By using a kid, he knows that there will be reports on it, by the way he died he knew that we would be caught off guard. He wanted to be noticed for his work, but not by his face" Castle thought aloud.

Kate looked at Castle. He had a valid point. She was getting better at doing this part because of how she studied Castle. He leaves nothing for question. He just throws theories out there, and eventually gets it right.

"So you think its some group or protest?" Kate questioned.

"Maybe, or maybe its just someone who got a little to angry. By burning his prints, it buys him time. It will take a while for us to get them, if we _ever_ get to them."

Kate took all of this into consideration. She was usually quick at making decisions on what she wanted her team to do, but with this case, she was lost. But, she couldn't make that known.  
"Okay, Ryan, Esposito, look for missing children that fit his description. Castle, were going back to the scene."

* * *

Kate looked at Castle as he was examining a crack in the wall of the alley. How this would help them, she didn't know, but she had learned to let him do his thing without interference. Kate walked over to the blood splatter on the ground and kneeled so she could be closer without touching it. How could someone do this to a small child? The amount of blood on the ground would be enough to kill an adult male, let alone a kid. One day, she would have her kids, but how could she when things like this are happening all around. Why bring new life into this mess –

"Beckett, I think I have something." Castle said, interrupting her thought. That was a common thread today. She looked at her partner to find him kneeling next to a garbage can in the corner behind her.

"What is it?" Kate said while straightening her legs and walking over, slowly, to her partner.

"There is a piece of paper, crumbled with an address on it."  
"Castle, its an alley, there's going to be trash."

"But what if its not _trash_"

"Castle – "  
He gave her another look that was all too familiar to Kate. This look made her think, for a split second, that this piece of paper may be their only lead. That this might solve the entire case. But she didn't tell him that. She simply rolled her eyes and handed him an evidence bag to amuse him.

* * *

On the drive back the radio was not on. They were sitting in traffic, and in silence.

"Who discovered the body?" Castle asked.

"Ryan took the call, it was an anonymous caller and she was in a panic, which is understandable. She gave us the location, the details, and hung up."

"Now, all homicide training aside, if you saw a body, wouldn't you wait for the police to get there?"

"Everyone deals with trauma differently, Castle. I don't know what someone may or may not do when they are shown something like that."

Castle sat in the same seat he sat in before. He starred out the front window and thought, just as he had done every case prior.

"What is it Castle."

"I'm just trying to put the few pieces together."

"Well maybe you need more pieces in order to see what the bigger picture looks like."

* * *

When they arrived back to the precinct, Kate decided to look up the address herself, but only while Castle was making a phone call, didn't want to boost his ego too much. The address belonged to a run down house outside of the city. Apparently it was paid off, no one lived there; it was just sitting. The bank wasn't reselling it because someone was in ownership of it. Kate looked up this owner as she saw Castle walking back with the boys.

"Anything?" Kate asked

"Nothing. We have people going through every missing child case, but so far none match your John Doe" Esposito confirmed.

"Okay"

"Beckett, what if the killer knew that. So it would take longer?" Castle theorized.

Kate continued to look up the information on this owner of the address that may or may not have anything to do with the murder. His name was Chris Tyler.

Castle looked at Kate who had a confused look.

"What?"

"That address you found" Kate said without looking up from her computer, "belongs to a Chris Tyler."  
"Okay"

She looked at Castle and then to the boys, whom were all listening intently.

"The house is paid off and is vacant, and the bank says that Tyler is the owner of the house. Chris Tyler died two years ago."

"How did they not know that?" Castle asked.

"Because someone was paying the bills after he died"  
"Maybe his children, wife?"

"It says that there were no beneficiaries. He was alone."

Kate thought about it all for a second. Something felt off. This seemed like more than just fraud.

"Okay," Kate stood up and commanded, "Espo, Ryan, go see if Lanie has found anything else –"

"Beckett we were just – "

"Just do it again. Castle, grab your coat, we're going to this address."


	4. Chapter 4

When they arrived at the house, nothing seemed out of order. It was in a normal neighborhood. During the day, no one was outside. Kids were at school, adults at work. Kate looked around but sensed nothing strange about the neighborhood. She looked back at the house. The lawn was cut; a single newspaper was at the foot of the driveway. How could this place be vacant? She walked up the three cement stairs that had a slight crack down the middle. The doorbell was on the right side of the door. As Kate rang it, she listened to hear a bell. Nothing. She pressed it again, harder, but still nothing.

"Do you think anyone actually lives here?" Castle asked.

"I don't know, but if it's vacant, the power is off, and there would be no doorbell."

Kate opened the screen door, which, from the way it sounded, had not been opened in a while, and knocked. Paused. Then knocked again.

"I don't think anyone lives here."

Kate tried the doorknob; it was open. She slowly opened the door with one hand and had the other on her gun. A musty smell graced over the partners, as they were welcomed into a new world. Kate looked around, confused. Everything was in its place. They were first in the living room. Couches and chairs faced a single television to her right and a set of stairs let up on her left. She walked a few feet and saw empty picture frames set up on the table next to the stairs.

"Why would someone keep empty picture frames? And set them up?"

Kate looked at Castle with a confused look. It took the personality away from the house. It was more of a film set than an actual place of residence.

"I don't know. Everything is odd about this place."

Kate walked a little further into the kitchen. She looked around. It looked as if someone was living in this house and everything paused. There were pots in the cabinets, food in the pantry. A table was in the room behind the kitchen with chairs and a place setting.

"It looks like they just got up and left…" Kate observed.

When Kate went into the dining room, Castle had left to go back into the living room. He was communicating with her, but it was just his nonsense comments about how strange everything was. As Kate walked over to the door in the dining room, assuming to be a bathroom or basement, she heard a noise upstairs. As if someone was walking. To her left, there was a second staircase. She pulled her gun and began walking. Castle was too far away to warn, and if they were upstairs, they heard everything already. If Castle stopped talking now, it would only make it more suspicious. Kate took off her heels; left them at the bottom of the stairs, and walked silently up to see what awaited her. There was a railing to her left at the top of the stairs. She pointed her gun, looked around, and continued. If logic served her right, the noise came from the left as well. The only option at the top of the stairs was to go left into a hallway of doors. Being an average sized house, there were only a few doors, but all were shut.

"Kate? Where'd you go?" Castle's voice said as it peered into the dining room. Still standing on the stairs, Kate looked down to Castle who was looking up the stairs. She held a finger to her lips and motioned for him to keep talking.

Castle, getting the clue, kept rambling, "And who has these types of chairs in a dining room?"

Kate inched her way into the hallway lit up by one window at the end. She went to the first door, put her hand on the doorknob, and swung it opened, gun pointed out. Nothing. It was a nursery, set up with everything a small child would need. There was a crib across from her and decorations on the wall. It was blue, for a boy, and had cars along the border. Kate left the door open and exited the room. A tad further down and to the right was the next door. She knew that the noise came from the other side, but needed to check this one first. She did the same thing to this door as she had to the other. This time, it was a child's room, a boy as well. Kate thought, maybe, this was her John Doe's room. She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary for what she had seen so far. She turned to exit the room. She was in her zone. She could walk in and out of these rooms with ease without anyone knowing – or so she thought. She approached the doorway of the bedroom, gun still pointed, still in her atmosphere until a thud from downstairs threw her.

Castle.

She ran to get out of the hallway, but heard a door slam at the opposite end. Startled, she turned around to look down the empty hallway. Forgetting whatever noise that was, she ran to find her partner. As she turned around Kate was greeted by a hard chest that stopped her in her tracks.

"Hello"

Then, from behind, a blow to the head knocked her out.


	5. Chapter 5

*warning* this story may get a little gory. It won't be disturbingly bad, but if you have a super weak stomach, be careful. This goes for chapters to come.

* * *

Kate woke up in a basement. She knew it was a basement from the hard concrete floor and the window at the top of the room. Trying to push the panic away, she looked around. The only source of light was, assumingly the outside, from the window. It lit up a portion of the back of the room, but revealed nothing. This was a square box.

She felt the back of her head where she had been struck earlier. She didn't feel anything wet which was better than the alternative. She felt her side. Her gun and badge were missing. She tried to stand up to look around but realized she was chained to the heating furnace behind her. Now the panic flooded back to her. She quickly felt her ankle where she was attached. She could barley see it because of how far away from the light she was. Her shoes were still off. She tried to slip her foot between the cuff to wiggle out of it, but there was no way. These were not standard issue cuffs. They were designed to be put on someone's foot so they would not be able to escape. Why did I have to take them off, Kate thought. If she had left her shoes on she would have some type of defense. Her socks were not going to do her any good.

Sitting back on the ground, she remembered that Castle was with her.

"Castle," she whispered. Nothing.

"Castle," a little louder. Still nothing.

She was by herself; she could feel it. How long had she been out? It was still light out, and the back of her head hurt, but she still remembered the majority of what happened, so it couldn't have been much. She remembered getting hit, so there was nothing damaging about her head. She looked down at her clothes. They were dusty. Her jacket was missing and her white shirt with her jeans was all that was left. Her hair was down and the curls had deflated. She leaned against the back of the wall and ran through what could possibly have happened to connect them to this situation. Her John Doe was still in the morgue and Lanie -

Cell phone. They took her cell phone as well. She really had nothing. Putting her hand to her forehead, she leaned against her knees and thought. What else could possibly have happened?

* * *

Moments were passing; but everything stopped when a doorknob turned. It sounded like it was coming from the opposite side of the room, but she couldn't see from the glare. Kate looked with wonder and confusion. The door swung open and two men dressed in all black threw a limp body on the floor and left.

"Castle?" Kate said with concern.

Castle was on the floor and moaning. Lying on his side, but hunched over, like he was in pain.

"Castle, are you okay?" Kate said louder, more firmly.

Castle managed to sit up. Kate watched him as he tried to stand. How much pain was he actually in? When his body refused to let him stand, he started to crawl. He reached Kate moments later and looked up. Kate was stunned to see his face. There was blood dripping down the left side of his head and he had blood stained on his shirt.

"What did they do?" she begged, firmly and strong.

"They - " he was cut off by a cough. She had never seen him this weak. Tears filled her eyes because of how worried she was becoming. Not just for Castle, but for herself as well. She felt bad for being selfish for the moment, when her partner - her friend - was in this much pain. But, if this was what they did to him, what were they going to do to her? She got as close as she could to Castle, the cuff around her ankle holding her back, and put an arm around him. She knew he was scared, but knew he wouldn't say anything. They sat there for a moment and waited. She just hugged him while he regained anything that he could.

"Are you ready to move to the wall?" Kate asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah. Lets go for it."

Castle got up on one of his knees and began to hobble is way over, leaning some of his weight on his tiny partner. She was strong, but not that strong. Kate helped him reach the wall where she was previously leaning on. She propped him up so he was next to her. Castle repositioned himself until he was finally okay to relax. Kate looked more closely. He had one shoe off and his sock was red. She looked at him, to get a confirmation, and bent down to remove his sock. Castle became anxious, making noises are she continued. Kate held back more of her tears as she folded the sock down to his toes, as gently as she could. His foot was burning. It had been broken, and painfully. She went to touch it but stopped her hand before she could. She looked up at his face, and his to hers, and gave him a concerned smile.

"Are you okay?" Castle asked.

Kate laughed softly trying to not cry. "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked at him, and her smile went away. He wasn't looking at her anymore. He was looking at the floor. When she answered him, he gave a reassuring sigh. Kate loved that it was his first priority to make sure she was fine, when probably more than his foot was broken. She moved over, slowly, and sat next to him. She put her head gently on his shoulder and let him sit there. He reached across with his left arm and put his hand on hers.


	6. Chapter 6

*warning* these chapters might get a little gory/gross. if you have a weak stomach be careful. this also applies to future chapters.

* * *

Castle had fallen asleep as the hours passed. It was now turning into dusk. The sun was going down. Kate remained awake. She didn't want to miss anything, especially if Castle needed her. He stirred in his sleep. His head was now on her shoulder. She looked down to make sure he was okay and then back to staring at the wall in front of her. How were they going to get out of here? She couldn't even get up to look around. She looked at his foot, which remained sockless. It was going to get bad, quickly. She didn't know what to do with what she had. She needed something to stabilize it, like a board, or something. But she didn't have anything and Castle couldn't move.

* * *

The doorknob began to turn again. Kate woke Castle up when she heard it. He looked to her, confused; then it all came back to him.

They both sat there, frozen. Kate was worried, but couldn't let it show. She had to be strong for him. Little did she know he was doing the same thing for her. The door opened enough to let a little more light in. Both of their gazes were fixed on this door, but Kate reached out for Castle's hand.

The two men from earlier came in again. This time they carried a box. They set it down next to the door and left. When the door shut, Castle looked at Kate.

"What do you think that is?"

Kate looked over at the box, which was screaming a mystery, a dangerous mystery. They both couldn't move to see what it was. All they could do is sit. Kate memorized the box. It was about two feet high and three feet wide. It didn't seem to be moving, so nothing _alive _could be in it. She listened, just in case. Nothing. The last thing she could see was that there was a lock. The sun was going down faster than she anticipated and the box was towards the front of the basement.

* * *

Kate looked at Castle who had put his head against the wall again. He had his teeth clenched and his eyes closed. He had removed his hand from Kate's and made a fist. Kate looked at him and then at his foot. It was swelling even worse than before. Should she wrap it? She didn't know what to do. Usually she knew exactly what to do in these situations.

"What do you want me to do?" Kate begged Castle.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Castle replied with his teeth still clenched.

"No you're not."

"There's nothing you can do."

Kate thought a moment. She looked around. She needed something sturdy. Something hard.

Castle had his other shoe on.

"Does your other foot hurt?"

"No."

Kate crawled over, careful of where his hurt foot was, and took off the shoe.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me"

"You know, usually I am the one taking your shoes off."

Kate looked up at him and smiled. That may be her favorite quality about him. The fact that even in the worst situations, he always found a brighter side. Always threw a little joke in, even when he was in this amount of pain.

Kate turned the shoe onto its laces and put the sole under his foot.

"I am going to make a splint for you."

Kate needed something to tie the shoe to his foot. A shoelace would be too painful, too hard. She needed to tie it to his foot, but gently. She didn't want to use his shirt because he had more wounds underneath it. He didn't need to be in any more pain. She took her white shirt and ripped it. She made a long strip of fabric from it. Castle, even though he was in pain, watched as it unraveled to reveal her bare stomach. At any other moment, he would have dreamed of this, did dream of this; but right now, he just wanted to get out of here.

Kate made sure the fabric was long enough and gave Castle a look.

"Are you ready?"

Castle looked back to show her that she had better just get it over with.

Kate put one end of the fabric in the shoe and attached it with a shoelace. She gently touched his foot and began to lace it overtop. He felt her cold hands touch his foot and prayed that it wouldn't hurt anymore, but it did. She began to wrap it tightly, tighter than he had hoped. Kate saw as he winced in pain, biting his lip to hold back tears. She hated doing this to him, but knew it had to be done. She tried not to cry with him. When she was done, she tied a bow at the top, and positioned the shoe a little more to the left, so it would support the broken bones.

"Is that any better?" She asked with an amount of hope in her eyes.

"Yeah" Castle gasped. "It will do. Thanks."

Kate moved back to where she was sitting before she fixed her friend's foot. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. He looked at her to see her eyes straightforward, looking at the door.

"Kate – "

"Yeah."

"Do you remember how we got here?"

"No, and I don't think were in the same building from before either. I think were in a basement somewhere, but on the same day."

Castle looked around. For the first time he was feeling awake and a tad better.

"What's around your foot?"

"Cuffs and a chain attached to the radiator. It's like I'm in prison."  
Castle was now switching from misery and sadness to angry. He promised he would protect her, and now she's here. He would rather go through everything if only they would let her go. Why did they only chain her? He couldn't get anywhere regardless, but he was able to move around the room. Why couldn't she? What did they want with her, and not him.

Then the doorknob turned again.


	7. Chapter 7

The doorknob turned again. This time they brought in a stretcher. Kate shifted up onto her knees. Castle grabbed her hand as she silently watched their plan. They wheeled it over to the box and left, like before. Except, this time, one man came back in. He slowly walked over to the partners sitting in the corner opposite from him. Kate watched with terror in her eyes as he approached. She positioned herself so she could jump to protect Castle at any moment. Castle looked at her and she glanced towards him, but ultimately landed her eyes on the approaching man. The man came close, but not close enough to make out who he really was. He wasn't wearing a mask anymore, but with the sun having just gone down, Kate couldn't see anything. She could make out his silhouette and his actions, but that was it. She saw him bend down to be eye level with the pair. Kate leaned up a little more, as to protect Castle with whatever she had. The man looked at her, and with just the lower half of his face visible by the light, released a nefarious smile. One that gave Kate shivers down her back. The man sat there and looked at her face for a second, as if he already knew her. Examining her. When their moment was done, he stood back up. He waited for a second, straightened his leg, and nudged Castle's broken foot. Just to tease them.

"No!" Kate protested.

Castle winced in pain as the man gave a tiny laugh and walked off. The door slammed behind him. Kate couldn't see Castle anymore. It was completely dark in the room.

"Are you okay?" she begged frantically. She felt down his leg to get to his foot.

Castle didn't answer. He just sat with his head pushed back against the wall and his hands on the floor.

"Castle," Kate said with a lump in her throat. She didn't know what exactly was making her cry. The fact that the man she had dreamed of meeting so long ago was now suffering before her eyes or the fact that those men were still out there. Kate repositioned the shoe holding Castle's foot together the best that she could without hurting him even more. When she was finished, she found her way back to her seat, and sat down next to Castle.

* * *

Kate woke up the next morning with her shoulder on Castle's and his head on the radiator. She wanted to stand, to stretch, but the chain was underneath him and she didn't want to wake him. The morning sun lit up the entire room. It was smaller that she expected, but it was rather wide. The door was further away than she thought. She looked down at Castle's foot. It was worse. It was completely swollen and the skin was broken around his big toe. Dried blood was draped over the side. It looked like someone hit it, hard. She remembered seeing something about compartment syndrome and knew it was fatal. She prayed with the little faith she had left that this wouldn't happen to Rick.

Kate looked up at his face. He had dried blood going down to his neck from a cut at the top of his head, right where his hairline was. She wanted, badly, to remove the shirt he was wearing and see where that blood was coming from; but, at the same time, she didn't.

About an hour later Castle woke up. He tried to move, forgetting where he was, but Kate held him down.

"Don't, you will hurt yourself." Kate said while putting a hand on his chest to sit him back down. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah."

"Can you sit up a bit?"

Castle moved forward, as much as he could without hurting his chest even more. Kate stood up, moved the chain that tied her to the wall and walked around. She knew Castle couldn't do this much, but she couldn't sit any longer. Her tailbone was digging into the floor and her legs were stiff from how she was laying. When she was done she knelt beside Castle once more. She was in a better mood now. She had passed the depressing state and turned to a more determined one. She was ready to leave this place.

"What is under your shirt?"

"Kate, I'm fine."

"Castle," Kate firmly responded, "That was a rhetorical question."

Castle was losing energy quickly. Kate began to notice because of his lethargic attitude. He was no longer cracking jokes and the look in his eyes was gone.

She moved closer to him and put her hands at the top of his shirt. Slowly, she began to unbutton one by one. Ironic, she thought, how she would have given anything to have had worked up the courage to do this before, but in wildly different circumstances. She worked her way down, revealing his chest. There were little cuts, everywhere, as if someone had grazed him with a knife or razor. Kate put her hand on his chest and looked up. Castle's head was turned to the side and looked straight ahead. She continued until his shirt was completely unbuttoned. The cuts were everywhere. Kate moved to the side and sat against the wall. She had it together, but now, she was losing it.

"Why are they doing this!" Kate shouted with tears in her eyes. She thought she could be determined, be strong, but it was getting harder. She looked over to Castle who was trying to figure out how to handle this. She saw his cuts and some were beginning to heal, but some were becoming infected. They must have used a dirty tool to do this to him. Castle reached up his arm and put it around Kate.

"Kate,"

She looked up at him to see sweat starting to gather at the top of his head. Fever, she thought. "Rick, you're going to be fine. I will get us out of here."

"You don't have to pretend, it's okay. We're in this together."

She leaned on his shoulder as he put his hand to her head and stroked her hair. Anything to calm her, at least a little. Right as she looked up to meet his eyes, the door swung open. There were more men now. They were walking faster than before.

* * *

Thanks for the reviews. I wrote this a while ago and didn't know what to do with it. My favorite genre is horror/suspense so, again, if you do get grossed out by these things don't read on. It's not terribly gross, but this is a story about torture.


	8. Chapter 8

"No!" Kate screamed. She left the safety of Castle's arm and inched herself forward, as to block them. She was becoming even more protective, putting her left arm over his legs and onto the floor.

A man in a mask walked, fast, to Kate and grabbed her by the arm that was blocking Castle. She swung her other arm around to hit him, but he grabbed it. He took her over to the side of the room and held her there. She fought with everything she had. Swung her arms, kicked her feet, threw her head against him. She was loosening his grip and was about to break free when another man came up and helped hold her back.

"Don't you touch him" Kate hissed.

The men came over and began to pick Castle up by his shoulders without regards to his broken foot or his wounds. They dragged him away from Kate as two other men got the stretcher and wheeled it over to meet them halfway.

"Let him go!" Kate protested violently.

They were all wearing ski masks until one came up and looked at Kate in the face. The men had her by her arms as she was sitting and they were standing. The one walking towards her took off his mask to reveal that he was the same man from last night. Kate had never seen him before, but their eyes locked. He was cold. He had no remorse for anything he was doing. He bent down, like he did before, and smiled. Kate studied his face, forgetting where she was, until she heard Castle let out a wail.

Kate moved her head to see around the man and saw that Castle was on the stretcher.

"Please," she begged the man in front of her, "Let him go,"

The man smiled again, stood up, and crossed the room. The distance between Kate and Rick was growing as they turned him so she could see his face. The man went over to the box, bent down and rubbed his hand over it. He took out a key that was tied around his neck and allowed it to open. Kate saw what was inside and let out an uncontrolled sob. The men moved her closer to Castle, but still a great distance away considering she was still attached to the wall. They wanted her to see what was about to happen, as if she had caused it, provoked it somehow.

The mask-less man took out a knife that was inside the box. He let it glisten in the sun with the glare bouncing off Kate's face. He walked over to Castle with his back turned against her.

Kate bowed her head as she heard Castle scream. She never heard him scream like that before. It had always been a girly and sarcastic scream. Like when they were playing around. But now, this was real. She cried, heavier, and lifted her head only to see the man repeat his actions. It was too much for Kate. She tried to move, loosen the grip the masked men had on her. She looked up at them with her tear stained face and saw that they were staring straight ahead, like statues. Castle continued to yell in pain and there was nothing Kate could do about it. He had already been weak when they had woken up this morning. She was afraid she was going to lose him. Seconds passed, but they seemed to take forever.

* * *

When the man was done torturing her best friend, he moved away. Castle rolled his head to the side. Kate glanced up towards him and their eyes met. She had never looked at someone with such concern and such worry. Without saying it, she communicated with him that she did love him. She loved him more than she could imagine. He returned the look with the same emotion. Then, he closed his eyes.

* * *

Kate wouldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. She could not have watched this man die in front of her. She struggled and pulled until finally the men let go. She crawled as far as she could but still couldn't even become close to Castle. She was sobbing louder than before now. He couldn't be dead. She couldn't have lost the love of her life like this. The man without the mask walked out of the same door he came in, but left it open. The masked men followed him, but this time, took Castle with them.

"No! Come back!" Kate protested with all that she had left.

The door shut, leaving Kate alone in this basement.

* * *

About an hour later the unmasked man returned. This time, he only had one other man with him. Kate was in the same spot that he had left her: lying on the floor, tired and drained. He walked up to her and she didn't move. She had nothing left. She could have died on that floor for all that she cared. His face came to meet hers as he bent down right beside her. He had no remorse. His cold expression emphasized that. He reached out a single hand and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. It had dried in her tears and Kate felt it when it ripped off her face. His hand, as gentle as a killer's hand could be, acted as if he owned her. He controlled her. She moved just her eyes to meet his. Her face was lifeless.

With a cracked smile, he said, "Your turn Kate."

He left the room without his partner who sat down next to Kate. She sat up, scared that she would be next. She pulled away when he grabbed her leg. He pulled a key from his neck and unlocked her. He gave her a card, pointed for her to stay, and left the room. This time, the door remained open.


	9. Chapter 9

When the man left, Kate looked at the card with haste. There was the address for the nearest hospital on it. She stood up, in just her socks, and ran out of the room. When she exited the door, she saw a box on the floor to her left with her badge, cell phone and gun. She picked them up and put them in their respective places and ran. She ran as fast as she could, hitting dead ends and long hallways, until she finally got to a stairwell. There was no one in sight in the entire building. They all had disappeared. She ran up the stairs and out the nearest door. She pulled her phone out, dialed 911 and reported what just happened, briefly. She asked for the closest officer to be brought to the nearest corner she could find. Without questioning, she got into the car and told the officer to drive to the hospital. Lights and all, they sped through the city, but it wasn't quick enough for Kate.

* * *

She arrived in a panic. Standing in the middle of the emergency room still wearing her torn white shirt, she looked around, but didn't know which way to go, which way to turn.

"May I help you?"

"Yea. Yes. I, um, I'm looking for a Richard Castle. Is he here? Please, where did he go?" She rambled to the innocent nurse looking back at her.

"Just sit down, ma'am, and I will go check for you."

"No! I need to know if he is here."

"Ma'am, if you just – "

"I need you to tell me where he is!"

"Kate!" a voice shouted from the automatic doors behind her.

Alexis ran in the hospital and into Kate. Her arms wrapped around her hip so naturally; comforting to Kate. Kate returned the emotion to Alexis by putting her arm around her as well.

"What happened? Is he here?"

"How did you know?"

"Esposito called the house and wanted to speak to Gram but she wasn't there, and I knew something was wrong, because why would he be calling, so I made him tell me and – "

"It's okay, Alexis" Kate said to the child of the man she thought had just died. Alexis looked up at Kate with a new innocence in her eyes. She had been growing up lately, becoming a woman, but at this moment, she was a child. She needed someone to take care of her, and right now, that person was Kate.

"Where is your grandmother, Alexis?"

"She is out and isn't answering her calls. I think she is at the playhouse, but I'm not sure."

Kate, now with someone to balance her emotions with, walked over to the desk. She hadn't realized, but her cut at the back of her head began to bleed.

"I am looking for a Richard Castle?" Kate said, softly, while holding back tears.

"How are you related?"

"He is my partner," Kate said while showing her badge.

"He is police?" the nurse said with a new judgment to her voice.

"No, more like a civilian assist. I don't have time, is he here?" Her voice was growing impatient, one of the many emotions running through her mind.

"Yes, he is in emergency surgery."

The nurse walked out from behind the desk as Kate turned to face her. The nurse noticed the blood slowly filling up the back of Kate's shirt.

"Oh, you're bleeding" she said with concern, "We need to fix that,"

"You daughter?" the nurse mentioned, "can stay here. We will have someone stay with her."

Alexis looked at Kate, worried that they were going to be split up.

"She needs to come with me." Kate scrambled for an excuse to bring her with them. Alexis, still a child, still needed someone.

"She's a minor, she needs to come with me."

The nurse, without the energy to argue, allowed her to come.

"We need to check out your head." She led them to a room down a long hallway. Sick people were everywhere, but Kate didn't see them. She was in a daze; emotionally tired. When they arrived to the makeshift patient room the nurse showed her the bed, gave Alexis a chair, and shut the curtain. A few moments later, she came back with gauze and medical tape.

"I need you to not move yourself, only do what I let you."

The nurse took Kate's head and brushed her hair away. She put gauze to the wound and, when it was cleaner, put tape to hold it there. Head wounds were always tricky, especially on women.

* * *

The nurse finished whatever she was doing and went out. Kate barely realized that she was done. Time seemed to have a different effect on her. It was moving, but Kate didn't recognize it. She looked around without realizing, answered questions without thinking.

Alexis was sitting to her left and was dialing a number over and over: Martha's.

A little later, a doctor entered. Kate barley heard him and what he was saying. She didn't care. He brought in a wheel chair and began wheeling her off for a cat scan. Kate looked behind her and saw Alexis looking back, worried. But, through the doors was a redhead running towards her.

Martha had finally been contacted and was now with Alexis. Kate turned back around and looked forward. Managing to forget the world around her, she relaxed in her chair.


	10. Chapter 10

Kate woke up in a different hospital room. Martha was asleep on the chair to her left and Alexis across the room. Why were they in _her _room? What happened to Castle.

Kate's clothes were different. She was now in a hospital gown. She reached up to feel her sore head. There was now a different type of bandage around it. Kate sat up and saw a curtain to her right. Behind it was another hospital bed.

"Castle…" Kate whispered, more softly than she expected. Her voice hurt and so did her head. As she went to stand, Alexis woke up.

"No, Kate, stay. You're rip out the IV."  
"What? I'm fine."

Martha stirred next to her until she woke up as well.

"Kate, darling, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Where's Castle."

"He's right there," Martha pointed to the curtain. "He's going to be fine, but he's still sleeping," she said quietly. " You will be too. You have a slight concussion. They just wanted to keep you a little longer because of everything you went through. Also, you were mentioning something about not being able to leave. I explained everything and they let you stay here for when he woke up."

Kate looked over at the curtain once more. She had been so exhausted she must have been too asleep to remember much.

When Martha was done fixing Kate's blankets, she walked over to Alexis. They were the only thing standing between Kate and Castle. Kate wanted to jump up and rip that curtain off the ceiling. They may be saying that Castle is okay but she needs to see it, see him. She wants to have the physical proof that he is breathing.

"We will leave you alone. Let's go, Alexis. We'll get some breakfast."  
As Martha exited, she moved the curtain back to allow the room to become one.

* * *

Kate looked on as she saw the man who she thought she had watched die. He was asleep and looked peaceful – well, as peaceful as he had been in the past couple days. Kate thought about it, she didn't remember what day it was, or what time. How long had she been asleep, and Castle. She carefully stood up bringing everything that was attached with her. After she detangled herself, she went over to Castle's bed and sat down. She looked at him with ease. He had just gotten out of surgery a little bit ago, apparently. The blankets were covering his body but she could tell how fragile he was. She reached up and placed her hand upon his, just enough to wrap her fingers around his hand. As she bowed her head tears began to fill her eyes. Happy tears because he was alive. Relieved tears because they were no longer apart, or in that room. He was right in front of her, sleeping. But, they were also tears of sorrow. She had watched everything that happened to him. Nothing would be the same after this. They could not go back to the precinct and banter like they had done before. And, Kate didn't care. She didn't care about that wall inside of her anymore. It was still there, yes, but, when the knife plunged into Castle's side it also went straight through that wall, piercing it just as painfully as it pierced his side. She looked back at the man she loved, _loves. _His hair was covering part of his face. With a gentle, tear soaked face she wiped away a tear and moved to brush the hair back to the top of his head and over a small bandage. As her hand was about to leave his face, she was graced with his blue eyes. They met hers and produced a smile across Kate's face. A smile that was wider than appropriate for this situation.

"Kate…" Castle mumbled with a muffled voice.

"Hi." Kate said as her eyes lit up. Another tear fell down her face, but she didn't care. She didn't have the energy to care. She cradled his face in her left hand and smiled.

Moments had passed and they were still sitting in silence. At any other time this would have been awkward, someone trying to think of something, anything, to say to break it. But, now, they just wanted to take each other in. Each had the same relief in their mind and they were letting it dominate their emotions. Kate stood up from the side of his bed, gently.

"Scoot over"

Castle moved as lightly as he could. He was sore, but the drugs were allowing him to enjoy every moment of this – of her. Kate sat next to Castle. His right side had the stiches and had the most injuries. Kate was on his left. She slid right next to him. Both of them wearing matching hospital gowns and both equally in need of a shower, sat there. Castle slowly lifted his arm and put it around her. Kate was surprised when his arm came around and snuggled next to her. She allowed it. She wanted to allow it. She moved in closer to him and closed her eyes. This was the safest she had ever felt in a while. Castle, without saying a word, leaned his head against hers and drifted off.


	11. Chapter 11

They both woke up when the doctor came into the room. It was now dark outside. How long had they been out this time? Castle's arm was still around hers and she didn't want it to go anywhere. And he wasn't planning on moving it. The doctor gave both of them the full run down. Kate would be out of here by tomorrow after a few more tests and one more night observation. Castle, however, would be here for a couple more days, possibly a week. They needed to observe him more carefully. The doctors were treating the infected wounds and wanted to make sure the surgery did go as smoothly as they thought. When the doctor left, Martha came back in.

"You have some visitors."

"But visiting hours are over?" Castle questioned.

"Eh, I pulled some strings." Martha said with confidence and a smile.

Esposito and Ryan both walked in. Kate adjusted herself. She sat up as Castle moved his arm to help him sit up as well.

"Hey." Esposito said with a head nod.

Ryan was right behind him and shot both of them a quick smile.

"Glad to see you guys okay." Esposito said.

Kate smiled back.

"We have some news on the case" Ryan answered from behind Esposito. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folder. Castle pointed to the moving table to his right, but he couldn't reach it. Ryan pulled it over and placed the open folder on top of it.

"We had the basement that – " Ryan motioned to the two of them. Kate could tell he was trying to tread lightly, unaware of how much trauma it was going to bring up. Castle answered for the both of them when he said, "it's okay, Ryan. Continue."

"Uh, yeah, so we had the place swept. That was where the little boy was killed. The van that dropped him off was still there. The blood matches. However, they cleaned up. There is no trace of them left – "

"What about the car that dropped Castle off?" Kate interrupted.

Esposito stepped forward, "It's on the security tapes and Lanie is having the team back at the 12th look it over."

"They will probably dump it someplace so be on the look for that." Kate told her team.

"Yeah. We also got what we could of the people unloading Castle. There is an APB out on each of them. But, these people are trained. I don't expect them to be seen anytime soon."

Kate agreed. She had her fair share of knowledge on how trained these people were. She looked at Castle out of habit.

"Do you know why they did this?" Castle asked.

"No, not yet," Esposito responded, "but were looking. Did they say anything to you?"

She didn't really know where to go from here. Her team would handle it. Should she mention what they said to her? She will, eventually. But, not in front of Castle. And not here. She just wanted these next few days to go as smoothly as possible. But, she couldn't let the men get too far away from then.

"Look into everyone that was involved. Including victims, past and present. See if there are any connections between them – us" Kate stumbled over her words. How should she say this? Enough time had passed to make this moment awkward. She was sitting in the bed of one of the members of her team who had almost died. Her "brothers" were standing above them. And she was now caught in a bad, but controlled case of word vomit.

"Alright – " Esposito broke the silence as he put everything back into the folder. "We will let you two rest," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"See you later" Ryan said as he exited with Esposito.

"Bye" Kate answered.

When they had left Kate let the awkwardness leave with them. She wrapped her arms around Castle's arm and laid her head against him. She closed her eyes and just soaked everything in. She trusted her team enough to let them finish this case themselves. This was the first time she wasn't breaking the rules to find the end. To put someone behind bars. She knew this was all different, how she was going to act, how Castle was going to act. But, it was good. This was a good different. A different that she needed.


End file.
